My friends are visiting July 13-14 and I'm looking for some fun stuff to do in Oakland or other parts of East Bay. It can't involve too much walking because one of the friends will be 7 months pregnant, but we like eating, crafty stuff (sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc), science, and nature (one friend's an ornithologist and the other is a field biologist so if you guys know of any easily accessible estuaries to do birding and stuff that would also be awesome)! Are there any awesome farmers' markets, cool food things, or shops you can recommend? They're not into art (museums, galleries, etc. unless it's something like First Fridays) and they're not adventurous eaters at all, unfortunately. I was actually thinking of taking them to a mac and cheese place Homeroom because the one friend is a cheese-worshipping vegetarian and they have a vegan mac for me. Anyone ever tried it? They'll be here that Friday night, too. Anyone ever done the "Off the Grid food truck" night at OMCA?

I'm really trying to avoid SF, since literally every friend and family member that visits wants me to chauffeur them to all the tourist spots while battling weekend traffic...I'm pretty tired of it! We're all from southern CA so it's not like they've never been to the city. Plus, we just moved to Fremont and I'd like to get to know east bay.

Cool, thanks! If you guys think of anything else I would super appreciate it!

Are there any old parts of the cemetery we could visit? I love looking at old gravestones. Hopefully I can get my friend to walk. Once she called a flat 10-mile hike we did a "death march" (LOL), so I have no idea what she will be like as a pregnant lady.

OMCA is an art, history, and science museum. The remodeled science wing just opened a couple weeks ago and is great. Lots of taxidermy and habitat type stuff and things your science friends would like.

Point Isabel is a nice, scenic, flat walk with lots of birdwatching. It's also the biggest dog park in the US, so even if you don't have dogs of your own, there will be plenty to say hello to once you arrive.

It could be fun to just wander around the shopping districts on Shattuck, Telegraph, College, 4th Street, Piedmont, etc.

Also, this won't help much because you have a pregnant friend, but something I always suggest in the East Bay is a sake tasting at the Sho Chiku Bai brewery in Berkeley. Every day 12-6, free. Then a filling lunch down the street at Vik's Chaat.

Also, this won't help much because you have a pregnant friend, but something I always suggest in the East Bay is a sake tasting at the Sho Chiku Bai brewery in Berkeley. Every day 12-6, free. Then a filling lunch down the street at Vik's Chaat.

WHAAAAAT. That's amazing. I need to do this. I had no idea such a thing existed!

I ended up not going to Homeroom because my colleagues wanted to go elsewhere. I'm sorry! Let us know if you end up trying it, and if I do get in there any time soon, I will make my report!

_________________Your heart is a muscle the size of a fistKeep loving, keep fighting

Berkeley Rose Garden is cool and I think might still be in bloom, although the paths have a lot of steps. Also, if your cheese loving friend wants great pizza you can try Zachary's and get a vegan one for you! They're pricy, but super delicious.

Homeroom was pretty good. Omni friends loved theirs and the vegan one was old-school noochy mac. I'm not a huge noochy mac fan but with all the add-ins (I did caramelized onions, artichoke hearts, and sauteed mushrooms) it was delicious. Their salads are super weird though. You basically get a big bowl of mixed greens and have to pay for add-ons, but they were all fancy/weird items like meats and olives and stuff. They didn't have tomato! Or onion! Or any normal salad ingredients!

Then we went to Point Isabel, pulled out the binoculars and did a little birding, my friend was really missing her dogs (her continuing ed class was 2 weeks long!) so she was super happy to play with some cute pups, then we went to a knitting store, checked out shops along Piedmont, and finally went for a drive in the Oakland hills and took a walk through the redwoods. And had Paxtis for dinner!

Thanks again for the tips! I really love Oakland so much and I'm looking forward to making my way through all the suggestions here! :)